Enigmatic Margaretia from Cambrian Utah

Margaretia dorus

Division Chlorophyta (?), Class Bryopsidophyceae, Order Bryopsidales

Geological Time: Middle Cambrian (~520 million years ago)

Size: Alga (?): 50 mm long by 12 mm across on a 63 mm by 108 mm matrix

Fossil Site: Wheeler Shale, Millard County, Utah


Margaretia dorusDescription: The first fossils of multicellular green algae appear in the Cambrian strata of the early Paleozoic Era.. Complete algal fossils, identified as Yuknessia simplex and Margaretia dorus have been found in the Burgess shale of Canada; both genera have been classified as Chlorophytes, a distinct branch of green algae from the Streptophytes that eventually gave rise to the land plants. This taxon has not been well studied.  The assignment as an alga is not totally secure; it also resembles some corals, a position held by C.D. Walcott, the discoverer of the Burgess Shale early last century. Most researchers currently ascribe to the assignment as an alga.

Also see: Cambrian Explosion Fossils of Utah

Reference: The Fossils of the Burgess Shale by D. E. Briggs, et al

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Enigmatic Margaretia: Putative Alga from Cambrian Utah

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